


The Last Name

by IcyPheonix



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Post-Canon, at least until proven otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 09:31:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13361706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: The owner of the last name in the Book of Friends finally comes for it. And it's not who Natsume was expecting at all.





	The Last Name

On the second floor, in a room that overlooked the courtyards and the sprawling grounds of the hospital, was a man. An aging man, his once sandy hair turned grey with age and his face creased by wrinkles.

 

Natsume sighed as he leaned back in his bed; it was another quiet day, just like every other.

“Ah, this looks like the right room.”

The door to his room swung open and a tall man strode in without even waiting to be invited.

He was unusual to be certain, long hair the colour of freshly fallen snow that fell in rippling waves around his shoulders and peculiar red marks under his eyes and on his forehead. His clothing was equally as unusual, robes that Natsume hadn’t seen outside of pictures.

“Ah, do I know you?” asked Natsume, adjusting the glasses on his face.

“Oh yes, we know each other very well, Natsume,” he said, sitting down beside him. “But then, it has been a long time since we saw each other. And you are getting old, for a human.” He reached over and tapped a slender finger to Natsume’s forehead, “But, it seems you still retain your sight, even after all this time. I’m glad. It’s rare you know, for humans to still be able to see us at your age, many lose their sight long before. But then, you never were like other humans were you? Natsume-kun?”

Natsume sighed, brushing their hand away from his face, so it was a yokai after all. He wasn’t surprised, he was pretty sure they visited him more often than people did nowadays, leading some of the nurses to think he’d taken leave of his senses when they walked in on him mid-conversation with one. Not that he cared that much anymore

“You don’t sound like you’re here for friendly conversation are you?”

“Of course I am, but, I have one favour I would to ask of you.”

Yup, there it was, they always wanted something and while there was a time when he would have indulged them, that time had long passed.

“I’m afraid I’m gong to have to decline,” he said with a slight bow.

“I haven’t even told you what I need yet.”

“Doesn’t matter, I can’t help, not anymore. I haven’t the strength left and I couldn’t sneak past the nurses if I tried.”

A wry grin crossed the yokai’s face as they slipped a hand inside their robes. “I really think you can help,” he said, and Natsume’s eyes widened when they saw what he was holding.

“Where did you get that?’ he asked.

“Oh you were never good at hiding things from me Natsume, always predictable,” he said as he placed a thin object in Natsume’s lap, an object with a green cover and very worn binding. “Now, it should go without saying what I want but, I would like my name back.”

With shaking hands, Natsume flipped the book open to the lone page left inside.

He could barely remember when it happened, but at some point he’d given away all the names in the book, all but one. Even Misuzu had taken his name back. But the last name remained unclaimed.

Natsume had tried to read it, but the writing was a mess to put it bluntly and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t make out the name scrawled across the paper.

“It’s probably for the best,” Nyanko-sensei had said with a huff. “It probably belonged to some low level ayakashi that got themselves exorcised.”

Still, Natsume searched for the owner, whenever spirits came to him he would ask if they given their name to Reiko. And every time they would shake their heads and reply the same, that they had not.

With the name unclaimed he stored the book away until such a time came that the owner would come for their name.

“Why did you wait so long to get it back?” he asked, looking up at the yokai in his room. “Especially if we were as close as you claim.”

“Because I trusted you with it, I knew you would keep it safe. But time is running out, and I would like to have it back now.”

“I hope I have the strength left to do this,” said Natsume, carefully removing the page from the book. “It’s been so long since I did this.”

With shaking hands he folded the paper before clenching it in his teeth. With a deep breath he pressed his hands together and exhaled.

“I return this name to you…”

The familiar warm, tingling sensation washed over him as a light breeze danced over his skin and the world began to feel like it was melting away.

 

_“Come on you wouldn’t want to eat me,” grinned a sandy haired young woman. “I wouldn’t taste very good, look, I’m all bones.” She waved her arms around before sticking her tongue out in a teasing manner. “Besides, I know where to get you much more to drink.”_

_“Oh?” a deep voice rumbled and a large white creature landed in front of her, towering over her. “That sounds much more promising.”_

_“How ever did you find all this?” asked the great white beast, falling onto its side with a laugh, face flushed red. The ground around it was strewn with empty alcohol bottles while another was clutched in a paw._

_The young woman just smiled and raised a finger to her lips, “That’s a secret. But between you and me, this guy set his dogs on me the other day. So I figure this is payback.”_

_The yokai roared with laughter, throwing its head back. “You are as devious as any yokai I have ever met little human.”_

_Swaying drunkenly, the yokai picked up the pen in a mighty paw and scrunched its face up as it looked down at the paper. “Ugh, make it hold still,” it grumbled, smacking at it with the other paw in attempt to keep it in one spot. “Now, how do I hold this thing?”_

_With shaking movements the yokai began to write, though the pen slid and dragged around the paper._

_“There, it’s perfect!” With a drunken, lopsided grin the yokai held the paper for her to see. “I told you I could-hic-write my own name.”_

_“So you did, so you did,” she said, clapping slowly. “I guess you were right.”_

 

The images began to fade at first, only to shift as a new set rushed through Natsume’s mind.

 

_The great white yokai stared down at the boy trapped under one paw, the boy with the fair hair who clutched a book with green binding in one hand._

_“Now hand over the book,” the yokai growled. “Hand it over before I squish you.”_

_The boy squirmed and wiggled before freeing and arm and landing a punch square upon its head._

_“This book, was something my grandmother treasured, and you want me to just give it away?” He held the book close as he continued speaking, “I’m her only relative, so I have to look after her things. I want to have something to remember her by. And if I can, I’d like to return these names as well.”_

_“Do you even know how?” asked the yokai, butting their face into Natsume’s. “There are a lot of names, and it’ll be a taxing process.”_

_“I’ll be fine. I don’t want to get involved but, I have to do this. Even if it kills me, I’ll return all the names in the Book of Friends. Please, lend me your power.”_

_For a moment it studied him curiously, the conviction and determination in his eyes was strong and unwavering._

_“Alright, I’ll help you. But don’t forget, when you die that book is mine.”_

_“Of course.”_

 

“…Madara.”

A single tear rolled down Natsume’s cheek as the images played themselves out before his eyes, memories as vivid as the day they had happened and some long forgotten.

“You lying cat,” he laughed as Nyanko-sensei’s human form melted away, returning to the large, white beast he was so familiar with, head resting across his lap and bed. “You told me your name wasn’t in the book.”

Nyanko-sensei laughed, looking up at Natsume, “And you believed me? How often did I tell you Natsume, that we yokai lie.”

His eyes softened as he ran his fingers through Nyanko-sensei’s thick white fur. “But why did you lie to me?”

“Why else? My pride. If it ever got out that a human tricked me into giving my name I would never be allowed to live it down.”

“I suppose that explains why I couldn’t read it,” said Natsume, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “You were drunk when you wrote it.”

“Humph, you try writing with paws and see how well you do it,” replied Nyanko-sensei with a sniff.

“So what was with that other form? I didn’t think you could take human form? Not one that didn’t look like me or Reiko-san anyways.”

“Impressed? I crafted it myself, I don’t expect to use it much though.” He sighed and shifted his position about, “I can’t fit through the door like this, and I can’t sneak in like a cat, I tried and got kicked out.”

“So you took a human form that they couldn’t even see? How dramatic of you.”

“I certainly thought so.”

Natsume sighed, leaning back against the pillows, he hadn’t felt this tired from returning a name in a long, long time.

“Why did you wait so long Nyanko-sensei?” he asked after a moment.

“I think you know why, Natsume. You can see them out your window, and how the numbers grow day by day.”

It was true, what had started off as just a few members of the Dog’s Circle gathered outside his window and in the courtyard had slowly grown into dozens upon dozens of yokai. From the Dog’s Club, to Natori’s former Shiki; released from his service upon his death, to the kitsune child who didn’t appear to have aged a day since Natsume had met him, there were yokai of all kinds outside. Occasionally they would come in through the window and converse with him, but most of the time they would just sit outside, milling around, unseen to everyone but Natsume. It was comforting though; he was never alone as long as they were there.

“My time’s running out,” he said finally.

“Aye, and they can sense it. All those that you have helped and befriended in someway, they keep watch over you from out there. You truly are a strange human Natsume. A friend to human and yokai alike, who could have imagined.”

Natsume nodded quietly, absentmindedly running his hand along Nyanko-sensei’s head and neck. He’d never have imagined he’d make so many friends, and that he’d actually grow to like the yokai around him, instead of hating them. It was nothing short of a miracle.

“It’s been a while Nyanko-sensei,” he said. “I missed you. Why did you leave anyways? I thought you were my bodyguard.”

“You outgrew me,” sighed the yokai, rolling his head to the side as Natsume’s fingers scratched just under his ear. “You didn’t need my protection anymore. And no one was coming after the book anymore.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I now?”

“Yes.”

He huffed deeply; tail swishing along the floor as he looked away from Natsume, staring off at the doorway.

“I suppose…I was afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“A human’s lifespan is the blink of an eye to a creature like me. I was afraid, of watching you grow old.”

“But I did anyways,” said Natsume as he looked down at Nyanko-sensei.

“Yes…so you did. So you did.” He lifted his head and looked up at Natsume, “I suppose age was one thing I couldn’t protect you from. It happened anyways, whether or not I was there to see it.”

“And you haven’t changed a bit.”

“I suppose that I haven’t.”

Natsume smiled and ran a hand under his chin, eliciting a noise not unlike a loud purr. “I’m glad that you came back, Nyanko-sensei.”

“Why don’t we share a drink, for old times sake? And you can’t tell me you’re too young now.”

With a flourish Nyanko-sensei materialized a bottle of sake and some cups and Natsume laughed. “Very well, why not. It couldn’t hurt.”

They drank, they laughed, they talked, or at least Nyanko-sensei talked, regaling Natsume with tales of his wanderings and of the yokai he’d met along the way. They talked all day, until the sun began to near the horizon and sink out of sight.

“Ah, I can’t believe how late it is already, eh Natsume. Natsume?” Nyanko-sensei turned his head to look over at Natsume and his golden eyes softened. “I see, so our time is already up.” He nuzzled Natsume’s cheek softly and pressed his snout to his forehead before rising to his feet and turning towards the window.

“Natsume, if there was ever a human I could call friend, it would be you."

 

A long, almost mournful howl filled the air and by the time the nurses reached the room that the howl seemed to come from, they found that the occupant, one Takashi Natsume, had passed away peacefully in his sleep, a smile on his face and a small green book tucked carefully under one hand.

For years after, the hospital and surrounding area would tell the tale of the haunting howl that filled the air at sunset that summer evening, a howl that echoed through the halls of the quiet hospital, a howl that sounded almost sad.

**Author's Note:**

> So a headcanon theory I have that I am especially fond of is that Nyanko-sensei's name is actually in the Book of Friends, he's just far to proud to admit it.


End file.
